GUEST: It was made for my mother's half-brother when he was a baby, so I'm guessing probably around 1915, 1916. And it's pretty much been in my family ever since, and it was passed on to me. I don't know who made it for him. I just know that it was made for him when he was a baby.
APPRAISER: It is the coat of arms of King Kamehameha, who was the king who formed the Association of Hawaiian Islands and joined the eight islands together.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And this is the royal crown here. These are the royal ceremonial staffs. This is the ancient outriggers' flag, and it has the crossed spears here, the influence of the British flag, and then the stripes for the various islands that made up the Hawaiian Islands after annexation in 1898 by the United States. The quiltmakers took great liberty in making these quilts, so you won't always find them with eight stripes. The women who made these quilts always put the quilting one finger apart. So if you look at any of the quilting on this, each line of quilting will be one finger apart. They were quite common right after annexation.
GUEST: Hmm.
APPRAISER: So it would be from 1900 to 1920, which fits in perfectly. I think this quilt is in magnificent condition. Now, how have you preserved it?
GUEST: (chuckles) Rolled up in an old sheet in the closet.
APPRAISER: That's probably as good a way to preserve it as any. It's better to roll a quilt rather than to fold it.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Now, do you have any idea of what this is worth?
GUEST: Well, I know about ten years ago, a dealer offered my dad about $5,000, but my dad said absolutely not. He didn't care, he was keeping it in the family.
APPRAISER: This quilt in an antique shop today has a value of $25,000.
GUEST: (snorts) (laughing) Okay!
